Customer Connection

A Note from Colin Sabol:
See You at Reach

We’re excited to see you in Hollywood, Florida this October for our annual Reach Conference. There will be many opportunities for you to learn from your peers and bring new lessons learned back home with you. If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time. It’s a highlight for me to be able to meet with the leadership of SPAN at Reach, celebrating their 10-year anniversary. They have been a phenomenal partner in supporting our customers, and I encourage you to join them if you haven’t already.

One of my favorite parts of Reach is getting to know customers like Mount Pleasant and hearing their stories. This year, we have the most customer sessions that we’ve had in history. This is a testament to their hard work and passion for solution-based efforts.

Two areas of focus for us are customer first and continuous improvement. In this edition, you’ll meet the leader of our professional services team, who through their daily routine, embody both of these goals.

In September, Hurricane Florence hit the East Coast. Prior to the storm we reached out to our customers in affected areas to let them know how we could support them if they experienced any storm-related issues. We’re working with them now as they begin infrastructure restoration efforts. Our thoughts are with those who were affected and we look forward to supporting them in any way we can.

On behalf of Xylem Measurement & Control Solutions, we thank you for your partnership and look forward to working together to end 2018 on a high note.

Colin R. Sabol
Senior Vice President and President
Xylem Measurement & Control Solutions

Meeting customer expectations by providing them with top-notch service is a priority for all utilities, including Mount Pleasant Waterworks in South Carolina.

Mountain Pleasant Waterworks was looking to meet customer demands for usage data and update their system to automate the data collection process, so they chose to pilot the Sensus Advanced Metering Infrastructure solution and deploy the FlexNet® communication system.

With a 100% meter read success after integration, this solution allowed Mount Pleasant Waterworks to better manage their network and software. As a result, they are more proactive in serving their customers’ needs.

Read the case study to learn more.

The next customer spotlight could be you. Contact Lindsay Hill to share your story.

To utilities and customers alike, there are few things more frustrating than when their services go out unexpectedly. Sensus remains committed to outage management solutions and restoration year-round.

Last year’s intense hurricane season ranks as one of the top ten most active in recorded history - from Hurricane Harvey to Irma and Maria, areas such as Puerto Rico and Houston, Texas received devastating damage and power outages. Nueces Electric Cooperative reported that 45 percent of its customers had lost power – but in less than 48 hours of landfall, the Sensus FlexNet® Communication Network enabled to co-op to restore power to each and every customer.

This September, Hurricane Florence arrived in our backyard. We worked with our customers in NC, SC, VA, and MD to make sure they were aware of the increased resources and support available to them as the storm approached. We added on-call technical support, increased the resources monitoring our Network Operations Center (NOC) for 24-7 service delivery, and our RF field engineers remained on standby to assist with necessary repairs. We are working with customers to ensure safe restoration efforts.

As cooler temperatures approach, some utilities brace for unexpected weather in the winter months – such as Chesterfield County Rural Water Company in South Carolina. When the area experienced unusually cold and snowy conditions, the Sensus smart water solutions helped the utility keep customers safe from the storms by identifying frozen water pipes that had leaked or ruptured.

The FlexNet® Communication Network can help you be prepared in times of disaster or emergency and has a long history of helping utilities restore services quickly. If you’re interested in learning more about how a resilient network can support your utility, co-operative and municipality, visit www.sensus.com/resilient.

This year’s 2018 Sensus Reach conference will offer three full days of exciting content including new learning labs, product roadmaps and customer case studies.

Hear from your peers

We're excited to offer more than 20 unique customer-led sessions - the most we've ever had at Reach before. These are some of our most popular conference sessions where you will gain insight and hear lessons learned from other customers. Here are just a few you won’t want to miss:

EBMUD’s Road to AMI

Speaker: David Wallenstein, Associate Engineer, East Bay Municipal Utility District

East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) highlights its AMI pilot project and related research including low-flow meter accuracy, water conservation, and fixed network leak detection. Learn more about the potential benefits of AMI including water conservation, facility sizing, operational efficiencies and water quality monitoring. EBMUD may help you make the business case for AMI.

Deploying Distribution Automation: Lessons Learned Along the Way

Speaker: Andy Wiles, SCADA Technician at Hancock Wood

Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative (HWEC) operates a dual FlexNet deployment with more than 13,000 electric AMI endpoints operating alongside 50 reclosers and voltage regulators. Hear from HWEC about obstacles they faced in the pursuit of distribution automation and lessons learned along the way.

Planning for Smart Gas Now

Speaker: Craig Williams, Principal Engineer at NV Energy

Discover the role FlexNet played in updating the gas distribution system for 160,000 customers in the Reno Sparks area. Hear how NV Energy leverages the communication network to continue a 150-year tradition that strives for improved service. If you are a new gas customer or a seasoned veteran, this presentation will advise you on where we have come from and where we still need to go.

Receive hands on training

Learning Labs are hands-on training sessions where attendees will learn how to perform specific tasks with Sensus solutions. Each Learning Lab is offered at least twice on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to a small number of attendees.

There are no course prerequisites for Learning Labs, but there are hardware and software requirements for many of the sessions. Please review session descriptions for requirements.

Make your plans

This promises to be a rewarding, inspiring and fun-filled conference. Along with valuable sessions and learning labs, you will hear a keynote from author and motivation speaker David Rendall, entertainment from music and comedy group The Water Coolers and have options for golf and boating activities. Make your plans to join us at the Hilton Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida from October 21-24, 2018.

— Lynn Scott

LYNN SCOTT

Lynn helps customers take their solutions a step further. She currently serves as the Senior Director of Professional Services, Customer Operations.

Maximizing Effectiveness

Once you begin to implement solutions, Lynn’s team provides consulting development and integration services to help you create a totally cohesive solution.

Her team of 25, based in Morrisville, is made up of solutions architects, business architects, developers, integration specialists and more, balancing customer projects across the country. Her team spends much of their time traveling to customer sites to look at how your Sensus solutions become a part of your complete technology landscape. Once you install your solution, Lynn’s team can help you come up with the best approach to align your technology and solutions with your business processes.

“Once a customer begins using a solution like FlexNet, we know that’s just one solution they have – it’s our job to help them integrate it. Our goal is to make the customer successful and make sure they’re getting the maximum use out of their product.”

Fitting Your Business

Lynn’s team is focused on continuous improvement. They are very software oriented and will look at your solution from the big picture level, pulling the different components and identifying what business processes you will need to adopt Sensus technology.

Dickson Electric, a Sensus customer who uses Flexnet, had many different third party systems that they wanted to add to their solution and integrate using Flexnet data. Lynn’s team helped them to be more responsive to their customers by adding the ability for them to receive real time alarms, measure and report usage reduction, and added a prepay option for their customers. As their system has evolved, Lynn’s team continues to work with Dickson to identify their needs.

“At our core, we are the team that helps you identify how Sensus solutions will work in your business,” Lynn said. “It’s our mission to help you streamline processes and in turn, better serve your customers.”

Manpower, time and money are key issues for any business and that includes the Sensus Partner Advisor Network (SPAN). Member companies along with Sensus are always looking for ways to improve.

SPAN gas subcommittee members asked Sensus to find a way to automate corrosion monitoring of pipelines several years ago. Could we find a way to save manpower, time and money with a wireless monitoring system to transmit data every single day rather than wait for field technicians to drive to a site and manually record the data? That important question led to an idea and many, many hours of collaboration.

The path to testing

In April 2016, nearly a year-a-half since the initial SPAN discussions, Sensus had a design ready for beta testing. Two energy companies—both members of SPAN--- and Sensus ran tests for several months. The solution successfully automated the collection of Cathodic Protection data, facilitated the management of the system and supported audits from regulatory agencies.

A new solution

SPAN’s collaboration with Sensus resulted in the SentryPointTM Cathodic Protection Monitoring solution. Gas utilities can collect data from battery-and-mains-powered sensors and transmit it over the Sensus FlexNet® communication network. The solution not only saves manpower, time and money, but also improves workforce safety.

Compelling solutions begin with collaboration. SPAN members jumpstarted this conversation and stayed the course. Join SPAN to make sure you are part of the next conversation that leads to the latest technology advancement.

Learn more or join the SPAN community here.

• GridFwd
  Oct 10-11
  Vancouver, BC

• American Water Summit
  Oct 24-26
  Philadelphia, PA


• AWWA Water Infrastructure Conference
  Oct 28-30
  Atlanta, GA


• NC AWWA-WEA Annual Conference
  Nov 4-7
  Raleigh, NC

• Utility Analytics Week
  Oct 24-26
  Orlando, FL
  We secured an exclusive 20% discount off the registration price for our customers. Register here.

• Benton PUD Builds a Foundation for the Future with Sensus
  (June 19, 2018)
  
  
• Loudoun Water Partners with Sensus to Sustainably Manage Water Resources
  (June 7, 2018)
  
  
• Georgia Utility Addresses Non-Revenue Water with Sensus iPERL Meters
  (July 10, 2018)
  
  
• Eagle Mountain Soars into the Future with Sensus FlexNet EasyLink Solution
  (July 26, 2018)
  
  

• Smart Meters: Beware Ye Olde Water Pirates
  (Water & Wastewater International, May 2018 Issue)
  
  
• Nicor Gas
  (Pipeline & Gas Journal, May 2018 Issue)
  
  
• Resilient Grid Enables Rapid Restoration
  (TDWorld, May 1, 2018)
  
  
• Is Smart Water Metering Intelligent?
  (ESI Africa, May 16, 2018)
  
  
• AWWA Announces Keynotes for ACE in Las Vegas
  (Water Finance & Management, May 29, 2018)
  
  
• Washington's Benton PUD gets AMI solutions from Sensus
  (Electric Light & Power, June 19, 2018)
  
  
• The Role of Smart Gas in the Smart City
  (Underground Construction, June 2018 Issue)
  
  
• A Wave of Smart Water Solutions
  (Water Finance & Management, June 11, 2018)
  
  
• Cary steps up plans to evolve as a smart city with 360 degree view of data
  (WRAL TechWire, June 11, 2018)
  
  
• Loudoun Water Partners with Sensus to Sustainably Manage Water Resources
  (WaterWorld, June 7, 2018)
  
  
• ACE18 Preview & Technology Stream
  (Water Finance & Management, June 4, 2018)
  
  
• Georgia Utility Addresses Non-Revenue Water with Sensus iPERL Meters
  (Atlanta Business Chronicle, July 10, 2018)
  
  
• Advanced Strategies to Extend the Life of Your Network
  (Water Online, July 12, 2018)
  
  
• Eagle Mountain Soars into the Future with the Sensus FlexNet EasyLink Solution
  (Water Online, July 26th)
  
  
• Georgia Utility Addresses Non-Revenue Water with Meters from Sensus
  (WaterWorld, August 13, 2018)
  
  
• Blaine Will Spend More Than $1 Million to Replace Water Meters
  (ABC Newspapers, August 14, 2018)
  
  
• US City in Utah Upgrades Automated Meter Reading System
  (Smart Energy International, August 15, 2018)